France Pledges 35 Percent Increase In NATO Spending

The increase fulfills Trump’s campaign promise to reduce the world’s dependence on American taxpayers.

Naturally, this is a very important achievement for the Trump Administration considering that one of its major goals in the geopolitical stage was to make those allies that were part of NATO to increase their defense spending.

President Trump hosted the French leader in Washington, D.C., after which the White House announced France’s commitment to meet the NATO’s two percent GDP defense spending minimum, representing an increase of 35 percent. Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media decided to ignore or downplay this incredible triumph.

Naturally, this is a very important achievement for the Trump Administration, considering that one of its major goals in the geopolitical stage was to make those allies that were part of NATO to increase their defense spending.

While many analysts pointed out in early 2017 that this was a really bad move considering that it would harm the U.S. relationship with some of its most important allies, the fact that Macron decided to do it shows a very interesting sign.

After all, France has always been a historic partner of the United States, and it has a very significant influence both in NATO and the United Nations.

Furthermore, what seems even more interesting about Macron’s decision to increase his country’s NATO defense spending is that he is one of the most powerful and influential leaders in Europe, meaning that it would be a surprise if some other NATO nations decide to take the same step.

According to the conservative outlet, the White House highlighted France’s cooperation in condemning Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons on civilians.

As everyone knows, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States took part in the airstrikes that were launched on military and electrical infrastructure targets in Syria a couple of weeks ago.

Apparently, President Trump thanked the French leader for being a “key partner” of his administration in the global campaign against the Islamic State.

During the primaries, then-candidate Trump brutally criticized the United States’ allies for failing to meet the NATO spending commitments.

As a matter of fact, this rhetoric led Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to raise the defense spending for every single NATO member by 4.3 percent last year.

As reported by the Daily Caller, President Macron and his wife Brigitte will stay in Washington through Wednesday morning. In addition, it was reported that they will be the guests at a White House state dinner, which is the first since President Trump took office.

According to different reports, both leaders have had a very interesting relationship since their first meeting at a NATO summit last year, when Macron gripped President Trump’s hand for a very long period.

Apparently, the French president studied videos of President Trump shaking people’s hands in order to get ready for their first encounter.

This way, when they finally met in front of the cameras, Macron was ready to provide one of the weirdest moments involving two world leaders.

Shortly after the shake, a French ambassador said he had tipped Macron off and even advised him how to react.

In a long profile of Macron published by Vanity Fair, it was revealed that the French president spent some hours watching videos of President Trump’s handshakes.

While they have different points of view on certain issues, the truth is that both leaders share a very good relationship, to the point where many analysts have pointed out that the U.S. could achieve the stronger relationship than it ever had with France.

What seems quite particular about Macron is the fact that he is far more popular internationally than in his own country, where dissatisfaction with his presidency has surged to 58 percent less than a year after his victory in the presidential election.

According to different reports, France and some other European nations are making huge efforts to prevent President Trump from killing the controversial nuclear deal with Iran.

Naturally, everyone suggests that Macron will use his great relationship with President Trump in order to convince him to save the Iranian deal.

In addition, it has been reported that the French leader will be keen to temper President Trump’s instinct to pull the U.S. military out of Syria, amid co-operation in fighting ISIS and coordinated strikes on chemical-weapons installation operated by Damascus.

While no one knows what will happen, many believe that despite his great relationship with President Trump, Macron will probably fail to seduce him.